Midnight In Paris

Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cottilard
Release Date: May 27, 2011
Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

Over the past fifty years, the literally unstoppable filmmaker Woody Allen has had his fair share of hits and flops. He is however, one of the very few directors that can be automatically forgiven for his flops because his next film will be so incredible that no one cares about the movie that bombed. He might also be one of those few forgiven directors because he incredibly writes, directs and sometimes even stars in a film every year. Midnight in Paris is one of the ones that swiped those unremarkable films from my memory within the first five minutes. This story has Owen Wilson playing the Allen-esque character, Gil Pender, a hack Hollywood screenwriter, who has traveled to Paris with his high maintenance fiancé, Inez (Rachel Mcadams). Gil hopes to be inspired by the city of love for writing his first novel, which is set in his favourite era, Paris in the 1920s. However, he unfortunately keeps suffering writer’s block. When Inez refuses to walk around Paris at night with Gil, he takes a stroll by himself through Paris, but when the clock strikes 12, his perspective on Paris will be changed forever. There’s nothing more enjoyable than a good Woody Allen movie. Films like Melinda and Melinda, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and now Midnight In Paris are just perfect with Allen’s never ending clever and witty writing and impeccable acting from his always-brilliant cast. Allen films have also always had beautiful cinematography and production design, but Midnight in Paris is the first Woody Allen film to visually entrance you into another era.  Costume designer Sonia Grande gives the film the style of the 1920s as well as beautifully contributing to the distinct personality of each icon like Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald and Salvador Dali. Production designer Anne Seibel wonderfully distinguishes the flavourful almost fantasy-like 1920s from what seems like the boring and modern 2011. Seibel does this so much so that you heartily desire to live in the 20s like Gil, but of course that is what Midnight In Paris is all about, everyone wanting and not being able to live in a past era. Allen’s script is so creative to put an idealist in his favourite era, with his idols; it feels like a Gore Vidal novel. Woody Allen can create incredible films, but having Midnight In Paris partly take place in the 1920s makes everything ten times more exciting, including the script. Allen’s take on the literary, art, music and film icons of the 1920s like Picasso, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald is ingenious and also quite hilarious sometimes. The fantastic cast only embellishes the distinguished personalities of the era. Alison Pill is theatrical and effervescent as Zelda Fitzgerald while Corey Stoll is eloquent and poetic as Ernest Hemingway. Kathy Bates is wonderful in her portrayal as the real mentor to all these artists, Gertrude Stein and Adrien Brody is hysterical as the passionately bizarre Salvador Dali in one short memorable scene. Marion Cottilard gives a great performance as the wishful tossed muse between all the icons, that Gil finds himself very attracted to her. With Allen’s vibrant writing, these talented actors bring the 20s to life for the audience and we can appreciate the era that much more because of them. Owen Wilson carries the film incredibly as the charmingly naïve and idealistic Gil, who dreams of having a life in the 1920s and publishing written work he can actually be proud of. His goofy presence and lack of confidence with his high maintenance fiancé Inez, played by Rachel McAdams makes the audience sympathize for the likable character and desperately want him to stick up for himself. McAdams takes a break from being everyone’s favourite sweetheart and returns to her bitchy roots from Mean Girls, with her character in Midnight in Paris. McAdams is irritatingly snobbish and condescending as Inez, who – even more appealingly – comes from a family of wealthy pretentious Americans. Her parents are well played by Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy, who more than once says, “Cheap is cheap” to Wilson’s frugal character. McAdams makes the audience perfectly hate her while still being extremely entertaining to them and her haughtiness with Owen’s meekness make for a hilarious movie pair. English actor Michael Sheen is also humorous as Paul, an ostentatious know-it-all old friend of Inez, who runs into her and Gil while traveling with his wife in Paris as well. The entire cast is beyond magnificent in this completely original work of the forever beloved genius filmmaker Mr. Woody Allen. Something that Woody Allen has over every other great director in Hollywood is that he writes the most intelligent, witty scripts and always hires a phenomenal cast to bring his bright ideas to life. At 80 years old, Allen is still releasing film year after year and his films just keep getting better. Midnight In Paris is simply dazzling, so it’s looking like Woody and his tremendous skills aren’t going anywhere.

The Hangover Part II

Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Todd Phillips, Craig Maizen, Scot Armstrong
Starring: Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifanakis
Release Date: May 26, 2011
Length: 1 hour 42 minutes

It’s been only two years and the wolf pack is back with Todd Phillips still in the director’s chair and with the exact same plotline, but this time they’re screwed up in Bangkok. Stu (Ed Helms) is the one getting married this time to the beautiful Thai Lauren (Jamie Cheung), who’s having their wedding on an island in Thailand to make Lauren’s strict Thai parents happy, by following tradition. The Pack travels to Thailand and they meet Lauren’s little brother, Teddy (Mason Lee), aka The New Doug. For two years, Stu has promised himself that he won’t ever get drunk with Doug (Justin Bartha), Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Allen (Zach Galifanakis) again. However, when Lauren encourages him to have a drink with the guys on the beach and invite Teddy along, history will repeat itself very soon. If a sequel had to be made from The Hangover, the only way to do it is to have the same guys forget everything from their crazy night before and lose an important person, which made the first film so successful. There would be no point making another comedy that just shows where the characters are in their lives a few years later. When reviewing the first film, I said that although all these continuous terrible circumstances the characters find themselves in are unrealistic, The Hangover is so ridiculously funny, you start to not care about the realism. In The Hangover Part II, you have to accept that realism isn’t arriving at all as well. However, this time it’s a bit harder for the audience to let their minds stretch the willing suspension of disbelief. It’s a contradiction to say that having the same plot was the only way for Todd Phillips to make a sequel and it’s also the film’s major downfall, but maybe a sequel shouldn’t have been made in the first place. Despite the first film being such a critical and box office success, it’s possible that The Hangover suffered the sequel curse that always ruins the authenticity of the first film. Even though some of the new inconvenient situations the characters find themselves in were original, they lost their shock value because the audience, most likely having seen the first film, is just expecting messed up stuff to happen. In The Hangover, most of the laughter didn’t come from the dialogue, but just the fact that there was a tiger, a baby, a naked Chinese man, and every event Stu, Alan and Phil were up against. Though it’s not Phillips or anyone’s fault, The Hangover could only really surprise us in one movie, and that is a major element that weakens The Hangover Part II. Besides a few new inventive ideas, the whole plot fit the same formula used in the first and that definitely didn’t throw anyone out of their chair laughing. Losing somebody, trying to make it back for a wedding and grotesque pictures during the ending credits left absolutely no effect on the audience because we saw the exact same thing two years ago. The only strong part of this film was the talented cast that sometimes made us forget for a second that we were watching the same movie. Zach Galifinakis of course generates the most laughs as the childish and slightly insane Alan, but both Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper still pull through the weaker script with flying colours. Helms especially shines through as a great actor, being the main character carrying the film. Helm’s performance was the only realistic aspect of this film unfortunately. By no means was this film boring. The script still had funny moments and one-liners that slid the audience through what felt like a repetitive memory. Although 2009’s The Hangover was one of my favourite comedies, it loses it’s creative touch now that it’s turned into a franchise that will most likely be milked until it’s got no innovation left. The Hangover Part II is not a complete failure, just an inevitable disappointment, so let’s all hope this doesn’t become a trilogy. 

Bridesmaids

Director: Paul Feig
Writers: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne
Release Date: May 13, 2011
Length: 2 hours 5 minutes

Directed by Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig, Bridesmaids is a knockout Judd Apatow produced comedy with a female cast. SNL’s absolutely brilliant Kristen Wiig, who co-wrote the script, leads the pack of feminine comedians in possibly the best comedy of the year. Do not be fooled, though. Although the cast is widely female, Bridesmaids is the furthest thing from a chick flick. The story centers around the lonely recently unemployed Annie (Wiig), who desperately wants to be in a committed relationship, even though she spends her nights sleeping with the gorgeous but dense Ted (Jon Hamm). When her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) get’s engaged to her boyfriend Dougie and Annie is asked to be her maid of honour, she goes into an even deeper level of exasperation. At the engagement party for the couple, Annie meets the other bridesmaids, Lillian’s young naive friend Becca (The Office’s Ellie Kemper), Dougie’s crude sister Megan (Melissa McCarthy), Lillian’s cynical cousin Rita, (Wendi McLendon-Covey), and Lillian’s new close friend, Helen (Rose Byrne) who’s married to Dougie’s business partner. Annie immediately takes a disliking to the perfect and fake Helen, but she’ll have to suck it up because the bridesmaids are going to be spending a lot more time together in preparation for what could only be a very interesting wedding. Ms. Wiig has been generating fans since she first started on SNL and also appearing in Apatow’s comedies since her first scene-stealing appearance in Knocked Up. She is simply a comical genius and continues to prove herself most with her very first starring role in this year’s Bridesmaids. With her fantastic writing and improvisation skills, Wiig is the best woman in comedy right now, overriding other SNL icons like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and one of the most beloved women in Hollywood. Along with Feig’s fantastic direction and Apatow’s producing, Wiig makes Bridesmaids one of the most enjoyable comedies of all time. Wiig’s performance is beyond hysterical as well as heartbreaking, showing her true talent as an actress as well as a comedian. As she sinks further and further after unintentionally upsetting Lillian many times, and being upstaged by Helen also, we laugh harder and feel more of her pain each time. Wiig carried this film beautifully, and Bridesmaids could have been amazing with just her alone, however a fantastic cast of actors accompanies her. Fellow SNL cast member Maya Rudolph is incredibly amusing as Annie’s best friend Lillian but it is really the unique friendship between them that creates the most laughs. Melissa McCarthy, who many know as the sweet cook Sookie on Gilmore Girls, is simply brilliant as the portly and tough Megan. Her character may have single-handedly gained the most laughs next to Wiig, with her serious manly attitude and pure vulgar personality. Australian actress Rose Byrne, who got her start on the Crime drama Damages, and currently stars in X-Men: First Class, has proven herself to totally master both comedy and drama. With her appearance in last year’s Get Him To The Greek, and her hilarious portrayal as Annie’s enemy Helen, she continues to strive with comedic acting. The Office’s Elli Kemper is again funny with her cute and naïve character in Bridesmaids and Wendi McLendon-Covey is also quite humorous as the sardonic and tired mother, who needs some girl time. Irish actor Chris O’Dowd is very sweet and funny as Annie’s love interest, Officer Nathan Rhodes, who kindly deals with Annie’s uneasy moods. Jon Hamm just keeps showing off his comedic skills after doing an incredible job hosting SNL twice and guest starring on 30 Rock. He continues to shine in comedy with an uproarious performance as the self-absorbed jerk Ted. Two people that weirdly made everyone laugh from their pure presence were Rebel Wilson and Matt Lucas as the weird overweight British siblings Bryn and Gil, who share an apartment with Annie. The whole cast is fantastic, but it’s the inventive script that makes Bridesmaids a one of a kind comedy. Wiig and co-writer Annie Mumolo’s writing is so creatively entertaining, it makes Bridesmaids that comedy that you miss jokes because you are laughing so hard at the last one. There is a particular scene in the film that takes place on an airplane that just simply bowls everyone over in a hysterical fit. While being this funny, the story is also surprisingly very real and has a touching level with Annie almost coming to a standstill in her life, while everyone is moving on around her. It is so refreshing to see an R-rated comedy, and in this case a triumph of a comedy, with a female cast and will most likely alter some opinions about Judd Apatow. There is nothing to dislike about this original comedy that stars some of the most talented hilarious women in Hollywood. It’s a necessity that everyone see’s this summer’s best comedy, Bridesmaids.

Something Borrowed

Director: Luke Greenfield
Writers: Jennie Snyder Urman, Emily Giffin (author)
Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson
Release Date: May 6, 2011
Length: 1 hour 53 minutes

Based on the bestselling novel by Emily Giffin, Chick flick queens Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin star in the feared adaptation of Something Borrowed. The manipulated plot of the novel goes as follows. Two young women living in New York, Darcy and Rachel have been friends since infantry. One is smart and boring (Rachel). The other one is beautiful, impulsive and stupid (Darcy). What a surprise that Darcy always gets whatever she wants and Rachel never has enough confidence to say anything for herself. When a wedding and a guy get involved though, things could be altered from this unrealistic dull friendship. The only small part of the plot that you might not be able to predict is that Rachel met this boring gorgeous boy in law school, when they both obviously had cute 12 year old crushes on each other even though they are both in their mid-twenties. After months of both being too shy to say anything, Dexter (the boy) is introduced to the forward Darcy and she asks him out, snatching him away. This creates the done to death love triangle before a wedding, seven years later after Rachel and Dexter sleep together after a drunken birthday party. Both realize they still obviously have feelings for each other but don’t want to upset Darcy, who is naturally as oblivious as convenient to the story. How will these two uninteresting characters be together without upsetting the ditzy girl who is going to get her heart broken? Giffin’s successful novel did have prominent Chick Lit elements and although the basis of the story may have been a bit worn, the characters were intriguing enough to make it an enjoyable interesting read. It is of course absolutely necessary to make changes to a story of a book, to make it fit well on the screen. However as a reader of the novel, I can accurately say that Screenwriter Jennie Snyder Urman took every unique and original character, plot element and fraction of the novel that made it stand out and turned the story into the done-to-death romcom formula that the makers of this film feel is “safe” for the audience they are aiming at. There is no exaggerating in that everything I enjoyed about this novel was scrapped for being too outside the superficial “Chick Flick” box that no slightly light romantic plot can escape. For example, in the novel Rachel has a best friend Ethan (played by John Krasinski in the film), who lives in England. Although Rachel had a crush on him when they were little, the two have remained only friends and he supports her through her Dex or Darcy turmoil. In the film, he is Rachel’s best and only friend who – spoiler alert – randomly confesses his love to her near the end. This weird little plot twist goes nowhere and the characters forget about it in the next scene, making another three minutes of this film utterly pointless and faithful to, not the book, but the never-dying plot of every terrible romantic comedy in Hollywood. Probably the most intriguing part of the novel was the characters, which brought life out of this typical story. Everyone, including Darcy, was enthralling to read about in Giffin’s novel and literally everyone in the film brought zero interest out of me, excusing Kate Hudson’s funny one-liners. The characters were all turned into stereotypes that are apparently needed for a movie, or a movie like this. An example is the character of Marcus (played by Steve Howie), a laidback guy who goes on a few dates with Rachel and turns out to be a jerk. Marcus is the forced funny guy, specifically the absolutely ridiculous hippie-like womanizer in the film. John Krasinski, no matter what the character, is always cast as the cynical sardonic friend now. Although Hudson’s performance was actually one of her funniest, it’s sad that the character of Darcy became so two-dimensional on screen as well as Rachel just becoming a complete bore. The film makes the story focus on what’s supposed to be a real and strong friendship and just an attractive guy that is standing between them. Out of all the dull characters of the film, Dex is the one that I could not care less about. I don’t blame Colin Eggersfield, who played Dex, for the triteness of his character. I’m sure he, along with everyone else in the cast, is a great actor. However, Dex was strictly written to be the hot sensitive guy. In the novel, all three main characters are equally important and have full depth that makes it so much more interesting than this laughable adaptation. Something that really knocked the authenticity out of the story was making it appeal to 13-year-old girls who love romantic comedies. I’m not saying there should have been full frontal nudity, but an exciting moment in Rachel in Dex’s relationship should not have been when they first held hands. They’re not twelve. There are a million more things to rant and complain about this adaptation, but I think you know what I’m getting at. It’s safe to say, I do not recommend this film to anyone, not even people who thoroughly enjoy guilty pleasures because there is absolutely nothing rewarding about Something Borrowed.